Thanks to Macmillan-Tor/Forge and NetGalley for the advanced reader copy in exchange for an honest review. This was a great book that kept me on the edge of my seat throughout. I’ll read more by this author in the future!

While it may not be as talked about as it should have been, Anne Heltzel's "Just Like Mother" absolutely slays.

This was a wild ride for sure! I’m not easily rattled, but there were definitely parts of this book that creeped me out and the ending is absolutely skin-crawling!
I really enjoyed the overall message of this book and found it incredibly creative how Heltzel portrayed it. There’s a lot of pressure and expectation of women surrounding life choices and I can appreciate the feminist undertones and message it delivers.
There are some gory parts of this book, so if that isn’t your thing you might want to reconsider reading this one.
There were a few loose ends I thought were going to be tied up by the end and a of couple instances I thought were going to be revisited or more thoroughly explained and weren’t hence the 4⭐️ and not 5.
I did thoroughly enjoy reading this one though and was actually really sad when the book was done. I had the hardest time putting this book down and I look forward to reading more from this author!
A big thank you to NetGalley for providing me with this ARC.

Big thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an eARC copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Overall, I think that was fun. I had a few issues but not enough to detract from the book as a whole. I think this would a good addition to a collection that had similar titles.

3 ⭐️

Thank you Netgalley, Macmillan-Tor/Forge, Tor Nightfire and Anne Heltzel for free e-ARC in return of my honest review.

The cult of Mothers. Maeve and Andrea are raised in a cult community led by women they all call mothers. When they were young the community was raided and kids were put to foster care and then to adoption. Maeve and Andrea has similar experiences but different outcomes. One was raised by loving adoptive parents, the other has to hop from one foster care to another until her 18th birthday. The environment has established their personalities.

Overall, Just Like Mother is quite an interesting book, especially reading it from the perspective of a mother. I’d assume that every mother has her children’s interests as a priority, however if a child has two parents- both must be involved in a decision making process. Anne Heltzel offered a different perspective of the role of the father and a man in the process of raising a child and put a mother on top of all, not even child’s mother - some Mother Mother. The author made it a thriller and tried to chill the reader with every page being turned. I found it fine for a thriller that actually raises a few interesting questions about motherhood and parenthood in particular.

Will be looking forward to new books by Anne Heltzel.

This story gripped me. Like, put my nerves on end the entire time. The premise is two cousins, Maeve and Andrea, whose lives get upturned as children after they leave the cult they were born into. After many years, they finally reconnect as adults. Maeve is coming to terms with her past, present, and future while reconnecting with her cousin that was her best friend as a kid. But not all is right and life quickly becomes a nightmare.

This book is gripping. It left me guessing and needing to keep reading to figure out what is going on. The ending is enough to turn your blood to ice. Maeve is also such a likable character and I was rooting for her throughout. This book also brings up, of course, motherhood and being a woman but not a mother. I've met many women who have strong opinions about motherhood and this book highlights the extreme way people can view it and their fellow women.

Highly recommend!

This one was a wild ride! A great horror novel that had my skin crawling! Suspenseful, uncomfortable and just plain old umputdownable due to it's weirdness! If you like cult stories, creepy dolls and dark themes, this one could be for you. A few sensitive topics to be aware of including child abuse, graphic sexual scenes, abortion ...

I did not intend to read this book all in one day but once I started I could not put it down. It is horrifyingly chilling and even when you can see what's coming, it keeps you riveted to the very end. Maeve and Andrea grew up as cousins in a cult run by women until Maeve makes an escape one day and the two are separated after the cult is raided. After decades apart, they reconnect through a DNA service. Maeve feels so lucky to have found her long lost cousin but is surprised at how well adjusted and successful she seems compared to herself. As they spend more time together, Maeve begins to lean more and more about Andrea as things begin to go wrong in her own life. She ends up spending time with Andrea and her husband at their Catskills mansion and begins to unravel the different ways these two have dealt with the past, especially with their own diverse feelings about motherhood.

This book is as creepy as the cover suggests. You begin to second guess things and wonder about what really happened all those years ago in the cult. The ending took my breath away. If you enjoyed The Push, I think you might really like this one. I will say that I would not recommend this to new mothers or those who are dealing with infertility. Other than that, I recommend if you are looking for a great psychological thriller.

This book will hook you immediately, terrify you, and not let you go until it is thoroughly done with you.

The summary of "Just Like Mother" caught my attention immediately. What is there not to love about a matriarchal cult thriller? Over all I enjoyed my time reading it. When I was actively paying attention, I was into it. but I found it hard to focus. I will say that this was very very predictable. I immediately knew what the 'twist' would be. I knew who the villain(s) would be. I knew why things were happening. It's still a good time but it's not anything new. I liked the writing and the plot was intriguing but it didn't have that extra something for me. Don't let me stop you though, "Just Like Mother" could be your next favorite thriller.

Thanks to Netgalley for an ARC of this book. To be honest, there were times when I found it difficult to read. It was disturbing, and I was afraid it might get graphic. Fortunately, it never veered into anything that was too much for me (and I have a vivid imagination, which means even the slightest hint of something gross will imbed itself in my brain for a long time). Still, it was disturbing and it’s tough to shake that. Even after sleeping on it, I’m still thinking about it far too much. It had a bit of a Stepford Wives feel to it.

I enjoyed the style of writing, switching between three different time periods—the present, the past, and the distant past. In this way, we learn about Maeve and how she interacts with the world, the struggles she faces because of her childhood, how it affected her life when she was removed from that environment, and how it faces her now. Maeve narrates in past tense first-person, but when she talks about the distant past, and even the more recent past, she switches to present tense, as if she’s experiencing it all over again. Even as I describe it, I think it’s confusing, but while reading the book, I found it was natural and barely even noticeable. Bit by bit, we learn about Maeve as she experiences the present by distancing herself from it and talking about it in the past, while at the same time immersing herself in the past (childhood) because she cannot escape from the memories.

What I found particularly interesting is that I probably wouldn’t have liked Maeve’s character very much, but by experiencing the pain of her past with her, I came to understand and have empathy for her. By the end, I wondered how she could have survived her early childhood at all. The scariest thing is that she never truly escaped it.

I don’t want to include any spoilers because I think this book is best read not knowing what to expect. The mystery is well-crafted, with details gradually revealed and too many surprise to recall all of them. If you’re looking for a light and breezy read, this isn’t it. If you’re looking for something to challenge your brain, and maybe even your perceptions of reality, I recommend this one.

This was a surprise read. It is a creepy, gothic, cult story that follows sisters who are separated. It is a story that is best gone into without a lot of previous detail. It captures the reader and doesn’t let go. I love a good cult story and this one has unique twists. I also adore the gothic atmosphere. I wish I had saved this for Halloween reading!
Highly recommend.
#JustLikeMother #NetGalley #MacmillanTorForge

I was so excited to read Just Like Mother as it is marketed as a horror novel surrounding a cult. This is not what I got from this one. It read as a typical thriller that touches on a cult with a MC who has past trauma and is trusting to a fault. I found the MC gullible and fairly dim, I was disappointed with how little we got to experience the cult, and was just overall upset with this one. The best part of this was being done with it since I felt like I was trudging through mud to finish it. This will not be one I recommend.

Omg this book!!! The cover is spectacular. And the story itself is so compelling and edge of your seat readable. Now granted i love a good cut novel, but they are no all 5 stars like Just Like Mother. Holy smokes was Maeve a devious character, and her creepy dolls, oh my! This was a one sit reading for me. Thank you Nightfire.

In this dark modern gothic novel, two adult survivors of childhood abuse are reunited after their cult was disbanded and they were separated by the foster care system. Maeve is adrift in New York City, unfulfilled at her job and single, while Andrea seems to be thriving with both a successful start-up in the fertility industry and a devoted husband. But the two women both seem to need the other and their relationship quickly deepens back to their childhood familial-like bond. The unsettling tone established at their initial reunion builds alongside power imbalance that is leftover from their shared trauma.

I may have found a new author! This book was so beautifully constructed. The plot, characters, twists, everything just absolutely marvelous! And what a perfect time of year to read it during spooky season.

This book gave me the creeps. The main character, Maeve, grew up in a women's only cult and witnessed horrible things. She was taken away at an early age and adopted. Years later she is reunited with her cousin (more like a sister) who also grew up in the cult. However her cousin and friends are obsessed with motherhood. As I'm reading the book, I kept wanted to yell to Maeve--"Don't do it!" "Run away!" It's a freaky, enjoyable book. Some of the plot is predictable--but it is fun watching what happens.

Thank you to Macmillan-Tor/Forge for providing me with an advance copy of Just Like Mother. This book was creepy! If you are drawn to stories about cults, plot twists, unsettling endings then this story is for you. The entire time I was reading this book, I kept thinking I had it all figured out. The author's ability to write in red herrings and distraction was fantastic. There are few books that make me cringe but this one was just cringy and creepy. I enjoyed seeing the main character develop throughout the story and the vignettes of the past were a wonderful creepy bonus. I thoroughly enjoyed Just Like Mother and highly recommend.

I waffle between giving this three and four stars. Our protagonist Maeve is a frustrating and overly flawed character whom it is difficult to feel for. Terrible choices are made over and over again to a frustrating g degree. What saves this novel is the overarching message about women and their relationship to the expected role of motherhood - whether they have children to look after or not.

A couple decent twists, some shock gore moments, a bit predictable in places, but ultimately a very readable, quick paced thriller.
The most interesting part is that, like me, the author is childless and nearing the end of (average) childbearing age. So to choose to write about a cult obsessed with motherhood, that reflects my frustrations with how childless women are often treated, represents (perhaps) the psychological struggle many women have these days about having children or not. I really respect Anne Heltzel for trying to find a very overt way of discussing the shunning feeling that many of us childless have had over the years. By adding in the horror and gore the way she has it makes it seem like being so elitist about Motherhood is wrong (which frankly it is). I hope that maybe a few people who have made statements as rudely put like "you aren't truly female until you've had a baby" or "you haven't lived until you've felt the love for your own child"; will have some reflection on how ignorant, elitist, and downright awful their statements are when said to a childless woman or someone transgender. Fertility is not a given for all humans and we should not covet it above all else (especially given that our world is over populated and children die starving each day). Just Like Mother could easily go hand-in-hand with A Handmaiden's Tale and make a wonderful comparison paper/essay about how different, and yet the same, being fertile is treasured over the last 30 years.

For those that had trouble with the gore or concepts in this book I have to say you should stick to your rom-com's then. I found it to be fairly mild in comparison to a lot of horror and fantasy/sci-fi novels I've read over the years. Also eating the placenta is a time honoured tradition in many cultures; so I just don't see that one as being as awful as others do. The forcefulness of the scene is torturous for sure; but the actual consuming (for me) not so much. The ending however... is very psychological and made me kind of want to put the book own like it was a plague that would infect me. Needless to say, the ending is absolutely brilliant. And it's not often I get to say that about a horror novel!

Overall Anne Heltzel has taken what society reveres as a magical treasure, Motherhood and fertility, and turned it on it's side. Showing the reader that anything put to the extreme is bad. That anything coveted above all else creates a cult. It doesn't matter if it starts with the best of intentions; it only matters that it ends with a distinct resolution that coercion and manipulation is truly at the root of all evil.

Finally, I'd like to point out that there are many women, like myself, who are perfectly comfortable with their infertility and happy for their friends to have babies over them. I do not begrudge any of my friends their lovely children, and treasure that they allow me to a part of each child's life. Occasionally I have moments of heartache or regret; but I believe those are more that I didn't meet societal expectations as a woman than anything. Hence why Just Like Mother speaks to me so clearly in it's condemnation of prizing Motherhood above all else. My only ask, of anyone but especially fellow women and mothers, is that you not degrade me (and others) for being unable (or choosing not) to be a mother ourselves. All women have value, all people have value; and we should never ever put one person's biological capacity above another's when it's the luck of the draw that ultimately determines your ability to bear a child or not.
Please note: I received an eARC of this book from the publisher via NetGalley. This is an honest and unbiased review.